Exhibitions

Planet B

100 ideas for a new world

June 2 – August 21 2016

"This new vision ... will be the theoretical basis of future constructions, ... as all the reasons for becoming impassioned disappear. … Everyone will, so to speak, live in their own personal “cathedrals”. There will be rooms more conducive to dreams than any drug, and houses where one cannot help but love. … You'll never see the hacienda. It doesn't exist. The hacienda must be built."

Ivan Chtcheglov, Formula for a new urbanism, 1953

The future we are dreaming of

With the exhibition project “Planet B” we will be presenting alternative designs for the future and an exhibition as a living organism.

The international group exhibition “Planet B – 100 ideas for a new world” engages with the radical changes to our planet – and looks for a plan B, for the future we are all dreaming of. Some 500 years after the publication of Utopia, a novel by Thomas More, artists, designers, architects, researchers and entrepreneurs will be presenting their utopias for the 22nd century.

Food hacking, the smart city, alternative economies and sustainable consumption – with their projects, the artists will be highlighting alternatives and drawing our attention to social, political and economic injustices. Yet, the exhibition project is not merely about showcasing these ideas - they will also be realised in the exhibition as well as in public spaces.

Planet B has been curated by Alain Bieber, Nicola Funk and Joanna Szlauderbach in cooperation with Vasco Bontje (Sustainica) and Darija Šimunović (project Hörner/Antlfinger). An accompanying publication by Lukas Feireiss and Matthias Hübner presents many other utopias – from Steward Brand, though Chus Martínez and right up to Raymond Kurzweil – that serve as an inspiration and encourage action.

Publication

The publication accompanying the exhibition „Planet B – 100 ideas for
a new world“ is a collection of different ideas for a new world – a
Planet B. The most visionary artists, designers, architects, writers and
futurologists in the world present their political, poetic, odd and
radical ideas for a new world.

Research teams on Planet B:

01.06.-12.06.2016Andrew Gryf Paterson, Norma D. Hunter, Mikko Laajola, Jana Pejoska, Agnieszka Pokrywka, Anna Romanenko and Björn Kühn: The team dedicates itself to the field of bio- & food-hackings by collecting fruit in the city and experimenting with fermentation, compost and coconuts.

The passable room installation „UUUUU(topia)“ by Düsseldorf's Ben J. Riepe Kompanie is experiencing performances during the entire exhibition period and offers a wide lawn, portraying a natural area as an art space and an art space as a natural area.

The artist duo Hörner/Antlfingeris undertaking three workshops that consist of guided imaginary trips through the city of Düsseldorf and a presentation of their previous time travel in Sofia, Istanbul and Sarajevo.

The designer Kathryn Fleming develops new life forms, using taxidermy, which are ideally adapted to life in the future.

Eric Winkler designs new uniforms for the police and questions political dimensions of visual unification.

The works of Brad Downeydemand privatized and commercialized urban spaces through temporary interventions. The series Fence Hack creates passages at points where borders have deliberately been drawn through fences. The removed material is in turn used for the frame of his artworks.

The photographs of Constantin Schlachtershow abstracted nature motifs and mental landscapes that appear to be pictures of an unknown future.

The Swiss conceptual artist duo Atelier für Sonderaufgaben (Studio for special tasks) creates fuel out of spoken words: the "Quatschmobil" (Chatmobile) is taking passengers on a ride through the city, free of charge, as long as they "quatschen" (chat). For every ten kilometers, random campaigns in public space are triggered, such as a free haircut, shoe repair or pizza.

As part of the Planet B exhibition,Alvaro Urbano installs an aviary in the outdoor area of the NRW-Forum, regarding the series „Utopias are for Birds“. For the ongoing project he develops aviaries based on drawings and drafts that originated from utopian projects and architectural concepts which could never be realised.

The theatre project „Niemandsland-Unterstadt“ by Theaterkollektivs per.Vers., in coproduction with ASPHALT Festival, in cooperation with the culture center ZAKK and the Rheinbahn AG, is an excursion to a decommissioned train tunnel, which is a refuge for people, who feel the world has become too hostile.

Vladimir Turner& Mathieu Tremblin analyse the city Düsseldorf, its circumstances and structures, while realising context related interventions in public space.